Same-day mobile hotel bookings – where are the most spontaneous cities?

Measured by the percentage of same-day bookings and at the times they were booked, HotelTonight found that Los Angeles and Phoenix are cities where the impromptu travellers are located.

Late hotel booking app HotelTonight reckons it has discovered where the impromptu travellers are located, based on data from its users.

As well as trying to find out which cities in the US contained the most spontaneous travellers (those booking closest to their actual booked stay), HotelTonight looked at the types of hotels being booked via its app and the rise (or not) of those staying at a property in their home destination.

Measured by the percentage of same-day bookings and at the times they were booked, HotelTonight found the following cities as being the most likely to have people securing a hotel late-in-the-day:

The differences in the cities in terms of what types of hotels these late-bookers are opting for is also noteworthy.

For example, so-called hip (“stylish, sometimes quirky”) hotels are most popular in Chicago and Los Angeles, whereas basic (“limited extras””) properties are more popular with folk from Phoenix and San Diego.

Luxury properties are favourites in Boston and San Francisco, with “comfortable and reliable” hotels score the highest in San Diego.

The final part of HotelTonight’s data-mining effort looks at the likelihood of people within a 50-mile radius (almost local) to book a property on the same day – presumably for so-called “staycation” purposes (or stayed out too late after work).

Although three of the country’s main cities – New York City, Chicago and Washington – feature, it is Orange County in California that has the highest percentage of locals staying in a late hotel.